Singapore Zoo Welcomes Country's First Artificially Conceived Lion Cub

This is Simba - Singapore's first lion cub conceived by artificial insemination.

Singapore Zoo welcomed the cub to its animal kingdom in October 2020.

The cub was conceived with semen from an elderly African lion.

The father Mufasa, who also takes his name from Disney's The Lion King, sadly did not survive the procedure due to poor health.

It is rare for lions to be conceived through artificial insemination, with the procedure first carried out successfully in 2018, resulting in two cubs in South Africa.

Lion populations in the wild have plummeted more than 40 percent over the past two decades, with about 23,000 to 39,000 mature animals left, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

According to keepers at the Zoo, Simba is growing up to be a healthy and inquisitive little lion.